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An interview that turned into a conversation between Elin Gregory, author of The Bones of Our Fathers, and Julie Bozza, author of A Night with the Knight of the Burning Pestle.

Experience and/or Research?

Julie: Congratulations on your lovely new novel, The Bones of Our Fathers. I loved reading it and gaining an insight into an area of work that I’m unfamiliar with – though like most jobs it seems a mix of 5% excitement and 95% routine! I understand you were drawing on your own work experience. What was it like to write about something that is ‘everyday’ for you? Have you done that before, with this or any other job?

Elin: Aww thank you so much, I’m glad you enjoyed it. I think we all put bits of our own experiences into our writing. Even with historicals there are certain constants. Dogs have fleas, horses will tread on your foot, cats don’t give two hoots whether you’re in 19th century Surrey or 1st century CE Jerusalem. But yes, museum work is mostly very much routine even though TV and films make it look very exciting. I blame Indiana Jones. For every day a museum curator has something wildly exciting to do they have a year where they have to fill in forms, follow policy, beg for money and try to stop the building, exhibits and collection from deteriorating. Writing about it was fun though. To be honest I did it as a complete change of pace from writing about historical matters that require huge amounts of research. I still had to do some research – finds of archaeological human remains have procedures – but not nearly as much as, say, finding out whether there was a local bus service in East Essex in 1925.

How have you managed it? The Night with the Knight of the Burning Pestle rang very true to me. Have you ever trodden the boards?

Julie: Thank you kindly! I’m so happy and relieved to know it worked for you – because, no, I’ve never been an actor. Except for once in college when I played Jeeves, very badly, in a sketch written by my love interest at the time. My main problem as an actor is that I am way too self-conscious!

However, I love TV, film and theatre, and I’m an utter fangirl about various actors, so I’ve thought a lot about what they do and how they do it. And I concluded a long while ago that actors and writers have much in common along the lines of character analysis and portrayal, and telling a story. Also, the whole behind-the-scenes stuff fascinates me, and I love how the productions are a real team effort. So, no real direct experience but instead lots of love, thought, love, reading, love and research – not to mention encouragement from my sister, who likes me writing about actors.

Obviously Indiana Jones and my sister both have a lot to answer for!

Location, Location, Location

Julie: The Welsh countryside and the village way-of-life seemed absolutely key to your story. I feel it wouldn’t have played out quite the same in any other setting. Do you find the location is always a vital part of your novels?

Elin: It has to be really. The location, in space and in time, gives you the options for what is and isn’t possible plotwise. My hero in the small Welsh border town can’t pop to the opera house any more than a medieval knight could pick up his iPhone to ask what time the joust starts tomorrow or my pirate hero could invite his boyfriend for Netflix and chill. What they do has to be realistic for the place or the period. Also, small communities tend to have their own way of dealing with things, whether it’s a village or the crew of a ship.

You’ve handled this yourself as the contrast between The Apothecary’s Garden and Butterfly Hunter shows. Two utterly different locations that give the characters different stresses and responsibilities.

Julie: Thank you! Yes, I’m really interested in the way that human beings and the environment shape each other – obviously not always in positive ways, alas, in the ‘real’ world. I don’t think it’s something I consciously plan ahead for other than choosing a general time and place, but it’s certainly something I enjoy exploring when writing.

Creativity

Julie: Do you have a ‘Muse’, or do you think that’s just a romantic way of viewing an intellectual/emotional process? How would you explain your Muse (or creative processes) to non-writerly people?

Elin: I sort of do. I have a character – I call him Charlie – who donates different aspects of his personality to other characters from time to time. But mostly he chirps up in response to hearing or seeing something that might make a story. I suppose it might be more accurate to say that Charlie is the bit of my brain that says “Oooh what if …?” Charlie’s a lot braver than I am and suggests things I’m not prepared to write but he’s a load of fun to have around.

Is your muse a help or a hindrance? For instance, is he much help with changes of pace between the romances like Butterfly Hunter and the edgy stuff like The Definitive Albert J Sterne? Do you have a different approach to plotting or does the plot grow organically out of the actions of the characters?

Julie: Three cheers for Charlie! My Muse bears an uncanny resemblance to Ewan McGregor, which means he’s always entertaining and mostly inspirational, even when being contrary. He’s also very … adaptable. Flexible, even. LOL! Which partly answers your question.

But the duller, more serious answer about the differences between Albert and Butterfly Hunter is more about how I’ve changed over the years. I started writing what became Albert about 25 years ago, back in the heyday of Silence of the Lambs. It grew over the years, but I never changed the story’s timeframe, as I liked the ‘low tech’ vibe. Poor Albert couldn’t even do a DNA test – something taken for granted in most crime dramas these days!

Anyway, don’t let me head down that rabbit hole.

Back then, I was way more into writing angst. I’ve mellowed over the decades, or maybe I’ve come to value different things. I’m not sure of the answer there … If there’s one thing that hasn’t changed, it’s that I’ve always been interested in “the power of love”. But perhaps I’m now writing about how that works towards good things, rather than how it can twist into bad things.

Current Projects

Julie: What are you working on now / next?

Elin: I have more Pemberland books in the pipeline – Terry the barber’s book is half written and I have bits and pieces of 3 more – I’m a few thousand words into an Eleventh Hour sequel set in 1931 just as European politics was beginning to get really edgy and I’m doing research for other stories too. When I’ll get them written I have no idea. Even if I retired I have no doubt that I still wouldn’t get much time to myself. I so envy the people who seem to be able to write beautifully even though they are surrounded by their family.

How about you? What are you working on – and when oh when will we have the sequel to The Apothecary’s Garden?

Julie: LOL! I’ve been thinking about Hilary and Tom a lot lately, you’ll be glad to know. I did make a start on the sequel, but then put it on hold when I realised I wasn’t quite ready yet. There’s one more novel I have to write, and then I’ll see if I can get to Hilary and Tom’s little corner of Wiltshire.

The novel I’m just about to launch into is a historical romance set in India. I want it to be my Last Hurrah with Manifold Press, as it feels like such a good fit with the Press’s ethos. I have been madly reading and researching, and feel rather daunted by what I’m taking on. But it’s an idea that has stuck with me for a couple of years now, and (as I’m sure you find, too) when the Muse is that doggedly persistent, it’s a mistake to turn away.

To Conclude

Julie: Thank you so much, Elin, for the conversation! It’s been a great deal of fun – and I’m looking forward to reading all the many wonderful stories you’re working on now.

Elin: Thank you so much for chatting! Also grand news about the book with the Indian setting. Can’t wait to read that :)

An interview that turned into a conversation between N.R. Walker, author of Imago, and Julie Bozza, author of Butterfly Hunter, in which we talk about butterflies, Australia, and other transformative matters.

Julie: Congratulations on your new novel Imago! What was it that inspired you to write this story?

N.R.: I was scouting pre-made cover sites about a year beforehand (it’s my go-to procrastination hobby LOL) and found the striking cover with the butterfly. I had to have it, even though I didn’t have a story, or even an idea for one, at that point.

Twelve months later, when I was travelling around the US, I had a scene come to me of a guy at an airport who was going to miss an important meeting because there was a car-rental error, so another guy offers him a lift, and thus, the two characters meet.

I let that play around in my head for a bit, had descriptions, character names, all I needed was occupations… then I remembered the butterfly cover I’d bought, and presto!! Lawson was a lepidopterist! Then the whole story fell into place. It was perfect! But the idea of him being a butterfly expert was never paramount to my planning. It was the cover I found that set the whole thing into motion.

N.R.: How about you? What was the inspiration behind Butterfly Hunter?

Julie: I was going to say that I also had an odd source of inspiration for my story, but then I thought that maybe inspiration by its very nature is always somewhat unexpected.

A conversation about the writing process between Brandon Shire, author of Afflicted, Cold and Listening to Dust, and Julie Bozza, author of A Threefold Cord (released by Manifold Press on 1 May 2014). We hope you enjoy reading this! Feel free to follow up with any questions or comments of your own, via our blogs, Goodreads or Twitter.

Julie: Do you have a ‘Muse’? How would you explain him/her/it to non–writerly people?

Brandon: I definitely have a muse. My fans on Goodreads know her well. She’s very opinionated about what, when and how we write. It would be nice if someday our schedules coincided, but that hasn’t happened in fifteen years of writing so I’ve stopped expecting it.

How would I explain her? She’s that little voice inside my head which you see me mumbling to as you slowly inch away from me on the bus. She’s harmless, mostly, but she is always watching.

Julie: I’ve recently blogged about my Muse here, so I won’t bore everyone by repeating myself. They are contrary creatures, it’s true… I’ve decided to personify mine as Ewan, so that even when we’re not in sync, he remains infallibly charming, sexy and adventurous.

Julie: If there were no genre conventions or readerly expectations to consider, what would you love to do with your writing?

Brandon: I don’t really follow genre conventions, which I think is why readers have a love/hate opinion with my writing. The more they try to box me into their idea of genre, the more I want to wriggle free of their labels. My partner says tags and marketing. Me, I think hindrances – a lack of exploration and challenge.

For instance, right now I’m exploring the topic of how men deal with miscarriages in one of my works-in-progress. The main character is LGBT. Does that make the story gay contemporary? Or, because there is another male character who helps to bring the MC back to himself do we consider this a male-to-male romance? There is a romantic element to the story, but that’s not its theme. The real narrative behind the story is the perceived inconsequence of the male grieving process over a lost child. How do we label that? What genre does it fall into? There is barely any psychological literature on the subject as a whole, much less applying a genre label to it.

Manifold Press held a Twitter Q+A on Sunday 2 February, to help launch two new titles: This Means War by Jane Elliot, and The Bridge on the River Wye by Adam Fitzroy. The Press was giving away a copy of each new title to any participant who asked a question of the authors.

Joining us in conversation were Jonah McD ‏@Atlantahiker and Cello ‏@altocello – and Andy Murray @andy_murray might have been surprised yet gratified to find himself mentioned as well.

RIP Philip Seymour Hoffman

Unfortunately we all logged on to the unhappy news that Philip Seymour Hoffman had died, so that was a very sad start to proceedings. He is a well–loved and well–respected actor, and I’m sure we are all eternally grateful for the talents and insight he brought to the roles he’s played and the projects he’s been a part of.

May you find peace, Philip.

Welcome

Manifold Press ‏@ManifoldPressUK: Gosh. Welcome to the #ManifoldPress Q+A! We’ll be here for about an hour … though we may be a tad stunned for a while …

Manifold Press: Use the hashtag #ManifoldPress to follow along as @IMJaneElliot, @AdamFitzroy and @juliebozza – and perhaps others – chat. Ask a question of either @AdamFitzroy or @IMJaneElliot to be in with a chance of winning a copy of their new books!

This Means War

Manifold Press: Perhaps we could start with the two authors with new books out this weekend. Give us a plot synopsis within one tweet!

Jane: This Means War: Can Jasper and Brian’s relationship survive a prank war?

Julie Bozza ‏@juliebozza: Cool! Though frankly at this point I’m more concerned about the cute little kitten surviving! :-)

A conversation between Adam Fitzroy, author of The Bridge on the River Wye – released by Manifold Press on 1 February 2014 – and Julie Bozza, author of Of Dreams and Ceremonies. We hope you enjoy listening in! And if you have any questions of your own, please feel free to ask via our blogs, Goodreads or Twitter.

Julie: Where did The Bridge on the River Wye come from? What was the inspiration or motivation?

Adam: It’s entirely possible I watch too much ‘reality TV’! I love shows where people make something out of nothing – homes and gardens in particular – and bits from them seem to fit together in my mind like jigsaw pieces. I had a plot involving the mysterious death of a brother which had been bubbling under for a while, and although I wasn’t quite ready to write a fully-fledged ‘whodunnit’ I thought it would work within the framework of the organic/intensive farming dichotomy … and everything else just seemed to follow on naturally from there.

Julie: Excellent! I very much enjoyed reading the advance copy you kindly sent, and thought you really made the most of the urban and rural locations in London and the Wye Valley. I can see now where the reality TV comes in. I was left with a real sense of the passion, the creativity and (if all else fails) the sheer cussedness with which people can make things happen. Not to mention the necessary dirt under the fingernails! It was all very well done.

Julie: Do you find yourself addressing certain themes or tropes in your novels, or does that change from work to work?

Adam: I try not to repeat myself too much, but I’ve had a bit of a theme going lately concerning characters who are either desperately short of money themselves or having to use ingenuity to get by in a time of general shortage. I’m not sure I’d know how to write a really rich or privileged character – not unless he’d originally come from a humble background, anyway. It’s a mindset which is very difficult to break, and people on opposite sides of the economic divide always have a lot of trouble figuring out ‘how the other half lives’. But I promise faithfully not to do the same thing again next time!

We are very grateful to @AtlantaHiker, @charliecochrane, @SRinglever, @stellaemrys and especially @ShellPeart for asking some great questions!

The following is a ‘transcript’ of the Q+A, wrangled into some kind of order, with some of the Twitter!speak translated into English, with added punctuation. We hope you enjoy it all as much as we did!

Cary: I’m afraid I don’t have a much more interesting answer for this than: it’s what’s in my head at the moment. When I first got the basic idea for The Other Guy – guy gets dumped at the altar and is left to pick up the pieces – I knew my main character Emory would find love again, but at the time I didn’t know it would be with another man. It was only when I started writing the second chapter that his love interest Nate appeared in my head, and I just went with it.

But generally speaking, I write what I like to read, and since I enjoy reading m/m romances, I suppose it naturally spilled over into my writing.

What about you? You’ve been writing for many years; has your interest always been in m/m romance?

Julie: It has! Well, I made a (very) few desultory attempts to write stories during my teen years, and they tended to involve male–female romances. However, even then there was no denying that while I was fascinated by the relationships between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy, Aragorn and Arwen, and Romeo and Juliet, I was likewise intrigued by those between Judas and Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar, Maurice and Alec in Maurice, and Romeo and Mercutio. I was rather innocent, mind you, and it was a very long time ago, but I got the same kind of charge from all these connections. In my somewhat less innocent early twenties, when I finally started trying to write seriously, I very quickly tended towards male–male romance as my genre of choice.

As for why… There have been some very interesting academic studies around the phenomenon of ‘slash’ (m/m) fan fiction, which have presented lots of interesting theories and reasons, most of which I agree with or can see the sense in. But when push comes to shove, it’s all about the writerly passion and the demands of my Muse… It’s a gut–deep urge, and there seems little point in denying it its due!

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